On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court let stand a Delaware law that requires advocacy groups to disclose the donors behind political advertisements disseminated in the two months before an election.

Previous law applied only to groups whose advertising directly advocated for or against a candidate. Delaware’s law applies to any ad that mentions a candidate.

An advocacy group sued the state, claiming that similar federal law applied only to broadcast advertising. But the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments in the case, upholding an appeals court ruling that the law is constitutional.

Critics say the law creates an “enormous burden” for advocacy groups and violates donors’ free speech.

We argue that voters deserve as much information as possible when it comes to studying and selecting a candidate.

Consider this from the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling in 2010: “... disclosure permits citizens . . . . to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”

Sad to say, but American politics as we know it would not exist without the millions of dollars required to drive campaigns on every level.

According to OpenSecrets.org, candidates in the presidential race alone have collected some $837,000,000 during this election cycle.

We cannot allow donors to hide behind a mountain of cash.

The second headline comes from Rehoboth Beach, where some full-time residents worry that changing the city’s voting rules will give part-time or even non-residents who own property too much of a say in the community’s future.

As it stands now, Rehoboth Beach requires residents to have lived in the city for at least six months prior to voting in an election. Once residents meet that requirement, they must register no later than 60 days before said election.

HB395 would force Rehoboth Beach to fall in line with the rest of the state and country. It would eliminate the six-month residency requirement and slash the 60-day minimum to 30 days.

While we understand the reasoning behind Rehoboth Beach’s current rules – the city’s future should be in the hands of those who truly call it home – the United States Supreme Court declared such residency rules unconstitutional … 44 years ago.

The court set the precedent in 1972, when it ruled that a Tennessee law meant to “insure the purity of the ballot box and to have knowledgeable voters,” actually denied citizens the right to vote as guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment.

The situation in Rehoboth Beach pales in comparison to the 1972 ruling, but, nevertheless, it speaks to a thread integral to the fabric of America – our right to have a say in how and by whom we are governed.